Haggar Commercial Sparks Controversy

A television commercial showing a man running into a burning house to save a pair of pants is being withdrawn by the Haggar Apparel Corp. after complaints it set a bad example.

City Fire Chief Michael Shafer said he had complained to Haggar about the commercial and the Dallas-based clothes marketer told him on Wednesday it was withdrawing the ad for review.

Shafer said he was upset last weekend when he saw the commercial in which the man re-enters the burning house, apparently to save a parrot, but then grabs the slacks. The pants and the parrot survive.

“It shows children that it is OK to go back in,” Shafer said. “We try to teach them that once you’re out, you’re out.”

If the commercial were real life, the actor would have died after taking three steps inside from the intense heat of the fire, Shafer said.